tschram

In 1926 three beautiful babies were born. One changed her name from Norma Jean to Marilynn. Another became the Queen of England, but the third was the most glamorous and regal of them all, one of the fabulous Markow sisters who, with sister Jennie (Coran), lived next door to the Ukrainian Hall on Ninth Street, daughters of John and Paraska Markow. This A-student was good with numbers. Remember the sign east of town that said, “Worlds Largest Pulpwood Storage?” Olga, now a Mando employee, was assigned to keep track of just how many logs were there. Her natural ability with numbers paid off. She became a deputy city clerk and was responsible for counting the change brought in from the downtown parking meters. Her gift was recognized by Russ Hanover who employed her as his bookkeeper for his various enterprises, and Olga spent most of her working life keeping track of the cash coming in and out of Snyders Drug and the movie theater. Olga worked hard, and she played hard. She and husband, the late Vern Reuter, bought a large lot on Stop Islands south shore and were in a hurry to enjoy it. Instant gratification took the form of moving a small house on Ninth Street to the lake where a freshly plowed ice road was waiting. The house was trucked across the lake and planted at the island. The fun began. The fun was entertaining so many people for so many years at Stop Island. Olga was the perfect hostess. Her wit and her charm are legendary. When the summer morphed into our beautiful north country fall, Olga and Vern changed gears and moved the party to the hunting shack on highway 65. Weekends and then weekdays they would get off work around four and straight to the shack. Despite her uncanny bookkeeping skills, she was not so good at keeping track of how many partridges she shot with her single shot Stevens 410. Safe it to say she was a ruffed grouses worst nightmare. Retirement did not change anything respecting summer and fall, but it did change things for winter. Eve